Preview: Bears @ North Stars

On Saturday July 30, Bears travel to Hunter Ice Skating Stadium to conclude their series against the Newcastle North Stars. The two teams have played 3 times this season. Bears have 2 wins (one shootout, one regulation) & North Stars have one win. The last time the two teams met at the start of July at the same venue, Bears won 3-0 thanks to a 2 goal game to Tomas Landa & Anthony Kimlin saving all 38 shots.

North Stars are currently second on the AIHL standings on 41 points from 23 games (12-7-1-3) while the Bears are 6th with 25 points from 21 games (4-9-5-3). Bears are 12 points away from the Top 4 with 7 games to play. Only the Melbourne Ice (54 points from 22 games, 15-1-3-3) are confirmed finalists at this point.

Last weekend at home, Bears played one game against Perth Thunder on Saturday. The major difference between the two teams was the Bears conceding 3 goals in under 90 seconds in period 3. A fightback started after the 4th goal however Bears went down 4-2. After this game, the Bears return home to play CBR Brave on the following day.

North Stars had last weekend off with their last games a double header sweep of Adelaide Adrenaline in Adelaide on 16/17 July. Both wins were narrow (3-2 on Saturday, 2-1 on Sunday). They only have the one game this weekend against the Bears before hosting Thunder & Adrenaline the following weekend. 

Leading goal scorer & point scorer for the North Stars by a wide margin is Connor McLaughlin (31-21-52) with Robert Malloy the leader in assists (4-22-26). For Bears, Tomas Landa is equal in goals with Cameron Todd (10 goals) while Landa is leading points scorer (27) and assists (17). Bears goals last weekend against Perth Thunder went to Michael Schlamp & Billy Cliff.

In net, North Stars goalie Dayne Davis has 12 wins compared to Anthony Kimlin's 7. Davis' Goals Against Average per game is lower than Kimlin's (2.49 v 3.02) while Kimlin's save percentage is higher (.911 v .908). The last time the two teams met in Newcastle, Davis only played the first period before being replaced by backup Nick Mizen.

This game is the Fox Sports Game Of The Week which will be screened on Thursday 4th August. There is no livestream of this game.

Story: Eric Brook

Photo: Pic by Wulos